Brandon Beachy turned out one of the best pitching performances of his young career and Dan Uggla increased his hitting streak to 19 games with a clutch 3-run homer in the seventh inning to give the Braves a 5-0 victory on Friday night.
Beachy dominated the talented Marlins lineup for 7.1 innings and allowed just two hits and three walks. He struck out six. Not only was it good to give the bullpen a rest, but it also restored some of the confidence Beachy might have lost after two rough starts to kick off the second half of the season.
Clay Hensley pitched well for Florida before allowing the wheels to fall off in the seventh. After weaving in and out of trouble in the early innings, he worked to sit down twelve straight Braves batters and cruised along for most of the game. He gave up five hits and three runs over seven innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out three.
Martin Prado led off the seventh with a single and he was followed by Freddie Freeman who delivered a single of his own to put runners on the corners with no outs. Uggla took a 0-1 slider on the outside corner and lifted it to center field. The ball cleared the wall and the crowd of 36,063 erupted at Turner Field. The homer was Uggla's 19th of the season and seventh of the month.
Jose Constanza, who was making his Major League debut in place of the injured Nate McLouth, recorded the first hit of his career with an RBI-single up the middle to give Atlanta a 4-0 lead. Freeman drove in another run in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly to bring in Constanza.
Scott Linebrink recorded the final three outs in the ninth inning to clinch a victory for Atlanta.